That means that customers in Houston paid an average of $5,500 more for electricity over a 14-year time span beginning in 2002, according to the group that buys electricity on behalf of municipal governments in Texas. The calculation, which uses data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, assumes monthly electricity use of 1,300 kilowatt hours.

The local electric company is the utility – that’s the company who owns the infrastructure, including the poles and power lines that deliver electricity to your home. They are who you call if your power goes out or there's an emergency. But in almost every city in Texas, you must choose another company to supply that energy, called a Retail Electric Provider (REP). These REPs, like Spark Energy, allow you to choose electricity plans that offer competitive prices and plans to meet your needs.
As they’re advertised, the Digital Discount plan appears to save you $4 — but only if you use 32 percent of your energy on the weekends, which is the stat Reliant used to create the average price it advertises. Say you often travel for business during the week, and are only home cranking the air conditioner on weekends. If your energy use skews to 55 percent weekend use (for Reliant, that means 8 pm on Friday through 12 am Monday), suddenly Truly Free Weekends becomes a much better deal.
How did we get this number?This total is calculated by taking the wattage and daily usage of your common appliances and converting this into a monthly kilowatt per hour (kWh) usage rate. To figure out the estimated cost based on this rate, multiply your kWh per month by the cost of your energy (an average rate is $.12 per kWh). You can learn more about calculating your energy consumption by following the steps on this page.
If you want your electricity plan to be as stable and reliable as your recliner, Quick Electricity has some trustworthy, low-cost, long-term plans for you from the top light companies in Houston, Dallas and the rest of energy deregulated Texas. These by-year plans reduce cost fluctuation and eliminate hassle from switching and renewing plans. Choose from 12-Month and 24-Month Fixed Rate plans.
And just like with any plan, it’s worth it to do the math to see how different scenarios will affect your bill. Take, for example, a home in Sweetwater that uses about 1,000 kWh of energy per month, and is interested in the Texas Essentials 12 plan. Zero percent renewable energy is the cheapest option — but by committing to a $5 monthly charge for its 100 percent “JustGreen” option, it’s actually cheaper than the 60 percent hybrid renewable option.
It’s worth noting that you can switch for free with no exit fee 42-49 days before the end of your contract. Under Ofgem’s standards of conduct, energy firms have to give you between 42 and 49 days’ notice of your tariff ending. You can use this time to decide whether to stick with them, or switch. If you decide to switch, you won’t be charged an exit fee.
Electric bills for customers in the Houston area can more than double in summer months, mainly because air conditioning. Not coincidentally, electric rates also rise in the summer months because of this increase in demand. The most dramatic rate increases occur in month-to-month plans, but electric rates do increase across the board for all fixed-rate contract lengths.
It’s very important to do your own research to understand the business focus of the company you are considering, as well as tax advantages (and possible disadvantages) if the company is a limited partnership. For example, Seadrill Ltd. SDRL, -4.77% provides offshore-drilling services worldwide. Seadrill Partners LLC SDLP, -3.52% operates offshore-drilling rigs under specific contracts with several major oil companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM, -2.78% and Chevron Corp. CVX, -2.81%
Great Eastern Energy is a leading supplier of natural gas, electricity and renewable energy in the Northeast. Founded in 1996, they remain one of the longest standing alternative energy companies in the region. Their full service energy solutions help businesses and property owners thrive by managing their energy costs and increasing their bottom-line.
Consumers in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and Corpus Christi were promised bargains on electricity when the Texas Legislature deregulated the electricity market. But 16 years later they're still paying more for electricity than their counterparts in cities Texas lawmakers exempted from deregulation such as Austin and San Antonio, according to the Texas Coalition for Affordable Power which analyzed federal electricity pricing data.
The complaints filed against providers aren't a perfect mirror of the J.D. Power customer satisfactions scores. Just Energy, which earned only two J.D. Power Circles and earned the second-lowest score, had only 21 complaints recorded with the Public Utility Commission. But it's helpful to view these complaints in aggregate: Over 50 percent of the 1,119 total complaints fall under "billing" — another reason to seek out a provider with high customer satisfaction in that area in particular.
Even though customers in deregulated Texas markets routinely pay more for electricity, there is a bright spot. The gap between the average price paid for electricity between deregulated and regulated market has shrunk to 8.8 percent. In 2006, customers in deregulated cities were paying nearly 47 percent more for electricity than their counterparts in regulated cities.

Once you sign up for your new energy plan, your local utility will be notified of the change and begin your service from the alternative supplier at the beginning of your next billing cycle. Upon starting your energy supply service, your utility company will include this charge on your energy bill and continue to charge for the delivery service portion of your bill. Why? Because although your supplier may offer you a competitive rate for electricity supply, your utility is still in charge of the infrastructure that delivers energy to your home – such as power lines and energy meters.

XOOM Energy, LLC through its family of companies is an independent retail electricity, renewable and natural gas provider in over 90 deregulated markets across the U.S. XOOM Energy’s family of companies includes: "XOOM Energy California, LLC", "XOOM Energy Connecticut, LLC, "XOOM Energy Delaware, LLC", "XOOM Energy Washington D.C., LLC", "XOOM Energy Georgia, LLC", "XOOM Energy Illinois, LLC", "XOOM Energy Indiana, LLC", "XOOM Energy Kentucky, LLC", "XOOM Energy Maine, LLC", "XOOM Energy Maryland, LLC", "XOOM Energy Massachusetts, LLC", "XOOM Energy Michigan, LLC", "XOOM Energy New Hampshire, LLC", "XOOM Energy New Jersey, LLC", "XOOM Energy New York, LLC", "XOOM Energy Ohio, LLC", "XOOM Energy Pennsylvania, LLC", "XOOM Energy Rhode Island, LLC", "XOOM Energy Texas, LLC", And "XOOM Energy Virginia, LLC" (hereinafter collectively "XOOM Energy") and offers electricity, renewable and/or natural gas products In each of their respective states. We are not affiliated with, nor endorsed by, any local utility or state commission.
Lots of sites can say 'CHEAPEST ELECTRICITY IN TEXAS!', but only Texas Electricity Ratings gives you the tools to know you're getting a great company to go with the cheap rate. Because what good is a cheap rate if your bills get screwed up and your payments get lost? We've collected thousands of reviews from customers just like you, who need to save money on their electricity bill but don't want the headaches and hassles of a fly-by-night electricity supplier.
1. Contracts: Before, there were no contracts. You signed up or you didn’t. When it’s the only game in town, you have to play by their rules. Nowadays, you’ll see these ultra-fabulous rates bandied about but it’s only by carefully scrutinizing the fine print that you’ll discover those wonderful rates come with a one-year lock-down or other catches.